Testing Ecological Mechansims of Adaptation in Red Squirrels.

Michigan State University, East Lansing MI

Investigators

Abstract

Understanding the ecological causes of evolutionary change requires that key ecological factors are not only identifiable and measurable but also amenable to experimental manipulations. Kluane red squirrels represent a natural mammalian system, for which it is possible to not only document evolution in action, but also to test the importance of specific ecological factors in driving that evolution. The goal of this project is to experimentally test the hypothesis that food abundance controls short-term evolutionary changes in juvenile growth rates and the timing of spring breeding by mimicking high food conditions in three populations of red squirrels. Experimentally induced evolution would confirm the importance of food as a key factor affecting short-term evolution in red squirrels. More broadly, this project will generate insights into the crucial linkages between ecology and contemporary evolution in the wild. The Kluane red squirrel system will continue to provide a valuable venue for graduate and undergraduate training in field research in northern ecosystems. An interactive website that describes this collaborative research project (see http:///www.redsquirrel.msu.edu) has recently been developed. This website provides both an accessible resource for teachers, researchers and children interested in red squirrels as well as a mechanism for data exchange among researchers and the general public.